Hello everyone. I was raised in a fundamentalist household. I was sent to a Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod elementary school, and was confirmed in the church attached to that school. Shortly after confirmation, at age 14, I became an atheist. I'm here for interesting discussions.

Hello everyone. I was raised in a fundamentalist household. I was sent to a Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod elementary school, and was confirmed in the church attached to that school. Shortly after confirmation, at age 14, I became an atheist. I'm here for interesting discussions.

I feel ya, I was raised a hedonistic atheist until my twenties when I accepted Christianity due to all the evidence for the resurrected Christ.

Anyway, welcome to the forum; I hope you find what youÃ¢â‚¬â„¢re looking for. Just remember to read the forum rules before you start posting.

Hello everyone. I was raised in a fundamentalist household. I was sent to a Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod elementary school, and was confirmed in the church attached to that school. Shortly after confirmation, at age 14, I became an atheist. I'm here for interesting discussions.

Hi naturalist,Welcome. Confirmation is an outward act done by men. Salvation is an inward act done by the Spirit of God. You will know when the Holy Spirit acts on your inner man--so if he had done anything in you, you would not be an atheist. No more than if you had been to China would you deny China existed.

But there might be an event or events in the church or your family that triggered your decision to go against an intuitive belief that there is a primary and amazing causality for all things. Would you mind sharing it, if that's the case?

But there might be an event or events in the church or your family that triggered your decision to go against an intuitive belief that there is a primary and amazing causality for all things. Would you mind sharing it, if that's the case?

I never had an intuitive belief that there is "a primary and amazing causality for all things". I did, however, take what the adults in my life said on the topic of origins at face value* when I was young, since we primates are wired to learn from our elders. Later, after reading what the experts have to say on origins, and reflecting, I concluded that what the fundamentalists whom I encountered early in my life had to say on origins is primitive nonsense.

But there might be an event or events in the church or your family that triggered your decision to go against an intuitive belief that there is a primary and amazing causality for all things. Would you mind sharing it, if that's the case?

I never had an intuitive belief that there is "a primary and amazing causality for all things".

Then you would not be using all the evidence adduced thus far, as everything we know points directly to an Ã¢â‚¬Å“Initial causer/causationÃ¢â‚¬Â , and not the materialists fairytale of everything ultimately coming from nothing.

I did, however, take what the adults in my life said on the topic of origins at face value* when I was young,

That would have been far more rational than your postulating that you were far more intelligent at the age of 14, than the adults in your life.

since we primates are wired to learn from our elders.

First Ã¢â‚¬â€œ The innuendo you are attempting to posit here has no empirical support; as there is absolutely NO evidence that we have any relationship (heredity) with other so-called Ã¢â‚¬Å“primatesÃ¢â‚¬Â. Second Ã¢â‚¬â€œ That we Ã¢â‚¬Å“are wired to learn from our eldersÃ¢â‚¬Â is a far better argument for design than it ever will be for evolution; as it begs the question Ã¢â‚¬Å“Who did the wiring?Ã¢â‚¬Â

Later, after reading what the experts have to say on origins, and reflecting, I concluded that what the fundamentalists whom I encountered early in my life had to say on origins is primitive nonsense.

And you made such an accusation while providing absolutely NO factual empirical evidence in support of such an assertion.